Who is Ween?

Ween is a band formed of the brothers Gene and Dean Ween. Regular members also include Claude Coleman Jr. (on drums), Mean Ween, bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboard player Glenn McClelland, Andrew Weiss (producer and occasional bassist) and others. Past members in the touring band have included Jason Fuller (keys), Bobby Ogdin, Stu Basore, Danny Parks, Hank Singer, Matt Kohut, and Josh Freese.

Where did they come from?

Around 1984 or 1985 in Middle school typing class. The Boognish appeared and offered them the scepters of wealth and power. (It's not too clear if they got them yet). Subsequently they started messing around with home recording, and formed Ween basically to make recordings to amuse their friends and themselves. They were introduced by a mutual friend Scott Lowe through a bond of avant garde music.

Are they really brothers?

Did you really think their real last name was Ween? Gener is Aaron Freeman; Deaner is Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo Jr.

Where are they from?

New Hope, PA. Freeman was born in Philadelphia and Melchiondo in Trenton, NJ. Ween is mostly identified as a NJ band due to their proximity to the Garden State and their roots and residency as a perennial opening act at City Gardens, a now defunct music venue in Trenton.

Is the Boognish a good guy or what?

He's more mischievous than anything is, but he certainly rewards his faithful followers. He's sort of like Mr. Myxyptlk from Superman. Boognish is the creative bond that united and subsequently punished for creative and moral transgressions.

Are they gay?

Sorry to disappoint all the Richard smokers, but they are not. (Both Gene and Dean are raising families)

Who is Mean Ween?

Mean played bass for Ween on the song "Alone" of the Pod. He's on the cover of the Pod. He doesn?t have long hair anymore. He played with the Jimmy Wilson Group 1999, at the Saint. He tours with Ween when he can get time off from work (he works at the pork roll factory). His real name Christopher Williams, aka “Cribber”.

Who are the Moistboyz?

A Dean Ween side project with Guy Heller. They are Mickey and Dickey Moist, respectively. Their albums are Moistboyz, Moistboyz II, Moistboyz III, Moistboyz IV and Moistboyz V.

Who's Eddie Dingle (from the song Nan)?

Eddie Dingle is an alter-ego that Ween uses for appropriate songs. He is envisioned as being a short man with a Napoleonic complex, with a badly deformed cleft lip. He has anger management issues.

In LMLYP, is that a Prince song I hear?

Yeah, Shockadelica is covered in it. Also, the rap section is adapted from the Prince song, "Alphabet Street".

Is that Pink Floyd in the background of Birthday Boy?

Yup, that's "Echoes" (off of the album Meddle). Ween are huge Pink Floyd fans and because of budget issues they sometimes resorted to recording over old cassettes. When “Echoes” (live at Pompeii) kicks in it is for this reason.

Where's the Pod?

The pod was a strange farmhouse where Gene and Dean resided after being thrown out of Melchiondo’s parents house the summer they graduated high school. It is scenically located on Van Sant Road in Solebury Township, PA, just south of the covered bridge. At the time the farm was named Holly Pond Horse Farm. The albums “The Pod” and “Pure Guava” were recorded in their entirety at the Pod and mixed by Andrew Weiss.

What's the deal with "Push the lil' daisies"?

Its an odd thing...a strangely overplayed song (and definitely not the best on the album), which now seems to be mocked by the rest of the world. It's primarily what comes to mind when the average Joe here's the name "Ween". It was tremendously popular in Australia, I hear. It is a love song for Gene’s girlfriend and later his wife, Sarah.

Is "Don't Get 2 Close 2 My Fantasy" really about child molestation?

It has a perverted side but it is an homage to David Bowie Ziggy Stardust era music and lyrics. Scott Lowe provides harmony vocals.

What the hell is the guy saying in "Mourning Glory"?

It's a story/fable about some pumpkins and their run in with a guy. You can find the lyrics to it???..uh, somewhere.

Who's Sarah?

Gener's ex, and mother of his child.

I find reggaejunkiejew offensive. What should I do?

Chill out-It's about one particular peron who was a real asshole. Besides, Gener is a Jew. The kid dies tragically of a heroin overdose, as predicted in the lyrics.

Is the picture in the insert the afore mentioned Pod?

No, it isn't. It's Brookridge Farm in Lambertville, NJ. Ween left the Pod in 1991 and took up residence in two different locations. Brookridge Farm was located across the river from the Pod and was home to many of Ween’s friends and local band False Front. The entire video for “Push th Little Daisies was filmed on location at Brookridge Farm and the bulk of Chocoalte and Cheese was composed and recorded to 4-track at Brookridge before being re-recorded in Pennington, NJ.

I heard some story about "Mister Would you please help my pony" and "Spinal Meningitis". What's the deal?

Legend has it, that Gene and Dean had just finished writing "Spinal" in a Washington hotel. Gener was tripping or something, and decided to go down to the lobby for crackers (this is all from hearsay, so expect this story to change). Walking by a newsstand, he was dumbfounded to see a Washington Post headline read, "Am I going to die, Mommy? " (Which is a line from the song). He freaked out, and quickly raced up stairs to tell his brother the story. He got into the room, only to find his brother curled up on the floor repeating, "mister would you please help my pony?"

When I heard I can't put my finger on it live, Gene sang some weird intro- what's that?

It's called the "I Can't Put My Finger On It Intro." Maybe it's in Arabic.

Didn't I hear I can't put my finger on it in a Levi's ad years ago?

The story goes that the ad execs were using it as a temp track, and instead of finding something to replace it, they opted to get the rights for it instead. Neat, huh?

Does Phish really cover Roses are free?

Yes. This was a pivotal moment for Ween as it changed their audience almost overnight to smelly, dirty rotten scumbag hippies. On the upside, Ween, from that moment on became a mainstay at Jam oriented festivals where they were clearly the best band on the bill and were paid significantly more money than they had throughout their history. Many fans are still butthurt about this and the mere mention of Phish’s name sends Ween fans into uncontrollable anger. This is an endless source of laughter to Ween.

Muhammad Ali?

Ok, apparently the sample of Ali was supposed to end up on the end of "Powder Blue", but the rights to use it hadn't cleared. A whole bunch got pressed before the mistake was caught, and consequent printings have been with out it. Rumor has it that most of the sampled copies went to Canada, so good luck getting it up there, eh?

A country album?

Hey, expand you're horizons pal. It's a beautiful thing.

Ok, then why only TEN songs?

12 GCG was originally a 12 song album, the songs “I’ve Got No Darkside” and “So Long Jerry” were omitted from the master recording after the artwork was completed. At an attempt to not seem ironic the band has since claimed that “12” represents the number of musicians that appear on the record, but this simply an easy cop-out.

What did the golden eel say?

Sorry, Gener ain't talking

Dancing in the show tonight? Any info?

Apparently Deaner got it off of his sister's ballet dancing record.

Is there a Honda commercial with Ocean Man on it?

Yup.

What's the deal with the White Pepper album cover?

The album was originally intended to depict thousands of peppers with one white pepper standing alone in the middle. This photo, instead, is in the gatefold of the album.

Why did they pick the name White Pepper?

The album had no working title when producer Chris Shaw said “this record is your White Album, or more like Sgt. Pepper.” The name and concept just stuck.

What's going on with the fucked jam?

No one knows. It's cool though. If anyone can decipher the lyrics they would be surprised to hear Gene Ween uncharacteristically address many controversial issues on the state of Arab/Israeli relations.

What about the Quebec album art?

It's taken from a game called Thorns, which was a pocket game from the seventies. The pictures of the characters on the cover are actually of Dean and Gene. The reason why they used this is unknown by most right now.

Is Chocolate Town about anal sex?

Chocolate Town is an autobiographical account of buying drugs in the worst block in Trenton, NJ. Mean Ween wrote the lyrics after being detained by police and assaulted in the holding cell of one of the worst precincts in the Trenton area.

Is "So Long Jerry" about Jerry Garcia?

Yes

What's "Ask the Dragon"?

It's a remix of a Yoko Ono song they did on an album called Rising Mixes.

What's Z-Rock Hawaii?

Z-Rock Hawaii is a collaboration with Japanese singer/screamer Eye (of the Boredoms). You can order it through the mail at www.unsound.com/NG/z.html.

All Request Live???

An album released the latter half of 2003. The band did a free concert over the internet and this recording was made and sold via their website. Ween forumers got to vote on which songs they wanted to hear, and the band performed them. It's the only time Ween has ever performed the "Stallion Suite" in which all the Stallions pt.1 through 5 were played in order and at once. It will more than likely be the only time this will ever happen.

What's the deal with Where'd the Cheese Go?

That song was recorded by the band for a Pizza Hut commercial. Evidently, Pizza Hut?s advertising agency approached Ween to record a song for their stuffed crust pizza line. The band recorded a clean version, and Pizza Hut executives dropped the idea. Deaner posted the MP3 of the clean version and then a dirty version on his website. Everyone of the fans adored the little songs, so Ween performed an extended version on the All Request Live concert. The versions of the song most readily available on the eb represent the 7th and 8th attempts at satisfying the decision makers at Pizza Hut.

Hey, what's this movie?

Gener and Deaner had small roles in the film "It's Pat", based on the Saturday Night Live character of the same name. They do speak and perform in the film (you even get glimpse of the Ween-mobile), and watch them eat mushrooms (but they're from Safeway). Incidentally, Dean wears the same clothes in Pat as he does in the Pure Guava insert.

What kind of guitars do they play?

Deaner plays Stratocasters for the most part and occasionally a Duo-Sonic. As far as effects go, there's: Talkbox Vox Wah Digitech Whammy.

What about a drum machine, or a four track? Don't they use them?

The reason for Ween’s transition from the first album thru the 4th album is actually very simple. Prior to the 2nd album, ween recorded in Melchiondo’s parents basement. This was not possible upon moving into the Pod as noise issues prevented it. After moving out of the Pod Ween resumed using real drums, played 95 percent with Melchiondo behind the kit.

What are these funny expressions that Ween and their fans use?

Ween-people say "mang" to mean "dude" and they say "brown" a lot to mean a lot of things. If someone is real cool, they are referred to as "fucker" as in "He's a real fucker, wouldn't you say?" They also refer to a female spouse or girlfriend as a "yak" and boyfriends as a "cak".

Is Ween against Women/Jamaicans/Jews/the French/Blacks/Latinos...?

Ween are the most diverse bigots that the entertainment industry has ever seen. As a rainbow band (blacks, jews, Italians, homosexuals (Dreiwitz) Ween has used their un-PC attitude to great effect.

Do girls like Ween?

Hells, yeah! Although the majority of Ween’s fanbase are overweight 23 year old boys who smoke too much marijuana and have never had intercourse with a woman, unless it is a cousin of theirs.

What is the Ween Dot Not Forum?

A strange place where you can meet strange people and talk to them. Just be careful when you go, because you'll always be doomed to return.

I got this cover of "gin and juice" that says it's by ween.

That's actually written by the Gourds and not ween.

Are you allowed to record Ween when they play live?

Yes, as long as the particular concert venue allows it. This is one of the great things about Ween. This also goes for Video and Photography. The internet can supply you with any and all Ween concert experiences.